How North Korean defectors view Kim Jong Un's daughter as his possible successor

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has drawn intense international media attention as their frequent public appearances together fuel speculation that he is grooming her to succeed him one day.

There are debates about her status, but most experts expect Kim to eventually hand over power to one of his children and extend his family's rule into a fourth generation.

Here's a look at how North Korean defectors and others think about the girl, who is reportedly about 13 and named Kim Ju Ae, and the family's dynastic rule.

Tae, a former minister at North Korea’s Embassy in London, defected to South Korea in 2016 and later served as a member of South Korea’s parliament. Tae said it's deeply lamentable to observe what he believes are Kim's moves to prolong his family's rule.

“It's a wretched reality that unchecked power in an absolute monarchy is being passed down to a fourth generation in the 21st century," Tae said. “North Korea will likely fall further behind the outside world if it has a fourth-generation power succession.”

Kim fled North Korea in May 2023. She said many North Koreans are unhappy to see Kim’s daughter wearing her hair long down past her shoulders, walking around in high heels and dressing like a grown-up, because such styles aren’t allowed for ordinary teenagers in North Korea. But she said they have no choice but to keep their frustration to themselves out of fears of harsh punishment.

“People would now think Ju Ae would become their monarch,” she said.

Lee came to South Korea in 2013 and heads the Seoul-based Free North Korea Radio station. She said North Koreans wouldn't have complaints about the girl's hairdo and outfit because they've been so thoroughly brainwashed.

“They wouldn't know whether her clothes are designer brands but they think she can wear them because she's the daughter" of their supreme leader, she said.

Choi, who fled North Korea in 2015, said that Kim’s daughter kissing her father on the cheek is “an extremely uncommon” display of affection between a father and his daughter in the North.

Living under a cult of personality centering on the Kim family, Choi said some North Koreans likely feel proud of such a scene, venerating Kim as “the father of all people," and "not a tyrant who killed even his uncle" in a series of brutal executions of his potential rivals.

Lee is a defector and lawyer who runs a website meant to provide North Koreans with outside information. He said that given the North's deep-rooted male-centered hierarchy, North Koreans wouldn't readily accept a woman leader. Lee noted even South Korea has had only one female leader, President Park Geun-hye , who governed from 2013-2017.

“Even South Korea is a very patriarchal society where women find it difficult to hold leadership roles. I can't buy the idea of a woman becoming leader in North Korea, which is virtually a dynasty,” he said.

Oh, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, cautioned against concluding that the girl is Kim's heir. But he said that if she's formally anointed as her father's heir, she could quickly cement her authority because members of the ruling elite with shared interests would rally around her and eliminate potential opponents.

“Whether the successor is a male or female doesn't really matter,” Oh said.

Ahn, a researcher who has interviewed hundreds of defectors, said Kim would need to deliver economic improvements and raise living standards to make his people accept his succession plan in a more positive way. Ahn said that despite living under their country's repressive rule, younger North Koreans have changed how they think due to the spread of South Korean TV and other cultural content, posing a burden on Kim.

“North Korean people won't rise up against Kim. But what matters is whether he can have his people accept his plan happily or begrudgingly,” Ahn said.

Jo, who runs an online news site, said contacts in North Korea told him they weren’t yet sure if the girl is Kim’s heir. Jo himself believes she is, and that Kim’s concerns about his health have likely prompted him to rush the process of preparing her as his successor.

In late September, South Korea’s main spy agency told lawmakers that Kim showed no other significant signs of poor health, though he remained severely obese and at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Both his father and grandfather, who ruled North Korea before he inherited power in 2011, died of heart problems.